I wish I could save her from all their delusions
by SpiltWords
Summary: T for mentions of drugs and alcohol abuse along with description of mild violence. Grantaire rings Enjolras after Eponine goes to a party and Combeferre is the one that answers.


For the first few months of their relationship Eponine had managed to keep it a secret. They never realised before she had moved in with them that she had a problem but a few months in was obvious. She spent a lot of time outside of the flat, the two guys never thought to ask why. She was always wandering around, watching people.

It was an ordinary night, Enjolras was busy writing some essay at the desk in the corner whilst Combeferre sat on the sofa with a film on whilst reading one of his medical textbooks. Eponine had slipped out of the door a few hours ago and normally she would return just before midnight.

"Are you hungry?" Combeferre inquired as he stood up, turning towards the kitchen. Enjolras gave him a vague grunt in reply. Combeferre had somehow managed to learn what each of his responses meant a grunt meant yes opposed to a vague wave of his hand which meant no. After searching through the cupboards for a few minutes he finally decided on pasta and quickly threw it in the pan whilst leaning on the counter and watching the film.

When Enjolras' phone began to ring he made no move to answer. Combeferre frowned as he glanced at the clock before looking towards Enjolras. "It's a bit late to be calling. Who is it?" He shrugged in response and with a sigh Combeferre crossed the room and took the phone. "It's R."

He looked up and rubbed his brow. "He's probably just drunk," he told him bitterly as he turned his attention back to his book. It wasn't that he hated Grantaire, they had actually been close friends until college but then he got in with the wrong crowd and that's when his drinking had began. It wasn't so much as a problem but an annoyance and barely a day went by when he wasn't drunk. Ignoring Enjolras, Combeferre wandered back to the kitchen and answered the phone.

"Enjolras?" Grantaires voice called down the line before Ferre had even had the chance to answer. "Enjolras are you there?"

It took a moment to respond, there was something off in his voice. "Enjolras is busy," he told him simply. "What's up?"

"I… It's Eponine.. I don't know…" He told him worriedly, his voice being slightly drowned out by the loud voices in the background. "She wanted to go drinking."

Combeferre sighed as he rested his head against the cabinet. It wasn't unknown for Eponine to go drinking and he didn't judge her for it. Most of the time she came home happy but on the few rare occasions she would come back in a darker mood and he assumed one of those times were now. "Where are you? I'll come get you."

"We're at some party… it's near mine, I'm going to take her back there. Can you hurry?"

He nodded his head as he quickly pulled the pan off of the stove before remembering that Grantaire couldn't see him. "Yeah, I'm on my way now," he told him as he grabbed his jacket and car keys off the side. Enjolras looked up at the sound of the door opening and frowned at Combeferre for a moment. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

A few moments later he had hung up the phone and was quickly getting in the car. It was less than a ten minute drive to Grantaires, he lived on the edge of town in his own. Apparently he was yet to find a house mate that could put with his drunken antics but he didn't mind. Combeferre hurriedly took the stairs two at a time as he made his way up the grungy staircase and on to the fourth floor. He knocked quickly on the door before stepping in, glancing around the empty living room. "Taire? Ep?"

"In here," Grantaire called back hurriedly from the bedroom. Combeferre navigated his way through the room and over the various piles of sketches and beer cans before he found them. He froze as he looked at them, Eponine was sat at the top of the bed, her head in her hands as she rocked. She looked so small and child like compared to Grantaires figure knelt in front of her, trying to get hold of her hands.

Combeferre cautiously stepped forward, sitting down on the edge of the rickety bed as Grantaire moved to the doorway and watched them quietly. Ferre carefully wrapped his arms around the girl and pulled her onto his lap, frowning when she didn't respond. "Hey, Ep?" He whispered into her hair, trying to get her to look up. He frowned as he looked at Grantaire. "Did she take anything?"

Grantaire stared at the ground, scuffing the carpet with his shoe. He'd met her whilst he was in college through friends of friends and had quickly became drinking buddies. It didn't take long before Eponine introduced him to another way of living, she was the one that introduced the drugs into their relationship. He'd only done it two times and neither time did he like it but she continued to do and so, in her best interest he had gotten her to promise that if she was going to keep up with the drugs she would only do it in his company and in return he kept it a secret. Only, tonight he didn't see her slip into the toilets or who she had gotten the drugs off. It was only after noticing she was gone and someone moaning that there had been a girl in the toilet for the past hour and wouldn't come out that he had put two and two together.

"Grantaire! Has she taken anything?" Combeferre snapped, pulling him out of his thoughts. The sudden changed in his voice caused Eponine to flinch and recoil out of her lap, curling herself in on herself further. Combeferre swore under his breath as he reached out for her, watching as she flinched away from him.

She was home, her parents angry voices were echoing through the house as she sat on the ratty mattress on the floor. She had shared it once with Gavroche and Azelma but they were gone now. Azelma had ran away and Gavroche had been taken into care yet somehow she remained here. She'd almost been arrested and had instantly escaped to her room the moment she got, hoping her parents would leave her alone but of course Brujon had seen everything and had followed her, telling her Father everything. It was the last straw.

She closed her eyes as she lay with her back to the door, ignoring the sick feeling as she heard her fathers footsteps on the stairs and the door being thrown open. And then, silence. She waited for a moment, thinking maybe he had fallen for the act and would leave her alone but she was wrong. She let out a yelp as she was yanked up by her hair and stumbled to her feet.

His hand closed around her throat and she struggled beneath his grip, trying to get free. "Are you stupid?" He sneered, slapping her across the face when she didn't answer. She shook her head, trying to make herself look tougher. If anything it only made him angrier. Over her Dads shoulder he could see her mum stood in the doorway, watching on silently. She never stepped in to stop but at the same time she never tried to help him either. She looked at her pleadingly before she turned away and left the room.

"You're useless, Ponine," her Father roared as brought a knife out of his pocket and her eyes instantly widened. "You jus' get in the way. If you get yourself arrested we'd all go own with you."

She nodded her head silently in understanding as her vision began to grow faint and she gripped at his wrist for support until he let go of her. She crumpled to the floor, rubbing her throat as she took a few gasps of breath. She looked at the door, suddenly scrambling to her feet. She made it along the corridor and down half of the stairs when she suddenly heard him behind her, being drunk slowed him down but not by much and his foot kicked at the back of her legs and she tumbled forward, landing at the bottom of the stairs with a small gasp of pain.

His knee pressed into her back and she instantly squeezed her eyes shut. She could smell the alcohol on him as he leaned closer to her ear. "Got to make you learn," he told her as she felt the knife dig into her skin and she let out a scream. Suddenly she felt something being shoved in her mouth and she tried to spit out the piece of material. "Stupid!" He repeated again as he knife dug deeper. "Do you want to get heard?"

Grantaire watched her worriedly as a sob shook her body whilst Combeferre sat beside her helplessly on the bed. "What's wrong with her?" Taire whispered.

Combeferre looked up at him, chewing his lip. "I think she's having a flashback," he told him. The minute the words left his mouth he was shaken out of his state and quickly moved towards her, remembering everything he learned in his lecture. "Hey, Ep?" He talked to her soothingly, making no move to touch her yet. "Ep, just listen to me. You're okay, you're safe. We're at Grantaires, take a few deep breaths… that's it, just listen to my voice Ep. See, you can do it."

Grantaire smiled faintly as he watched them before stepping out of the room and leaving them alone. After a few minutes Combeferre deemed it safe enough to try and touch her and hesitantly reaching for her hands, gently moving them from her head. "Look at me," he whispered.

She looked at him distantly, tears forming in her eyes. He reached forward, wiping them away with the pad of his thumb before tilting her chin up. "Hey," he whispered.

It took her a few more moments before she truly acknowledged him and the moment she did her lip began to quiver. He hurriedly gathered her in his arms, he'd only ever seen her cry twice in the time he had known her. The first was when she had an argument with her dad and she came in angry, shouting at the top of her voice and the second time had been when Gavroche got a perfect score on a test. Both times she now denied. He held her tightly against his chest, continuing to whisper to her soothingly.

They left Grantaires not long after. He placed his coat over her as he sat her silently in the passenger seat and quickly thanked Grantaire and promised to ring him later. The drive was mostly silent, even though her eyes were closed he knew she wasn't sleeping and it wasn't until he pulled up outside of the apartment that he decided to speak. "What happened?" He asked her gently, reaching over to squeeze her hand. He sighed when she didn't respond but instead took his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders as she unsteadily got out of the car.

He was beside her in a moment, always the gentleman and wrapped an arm around her waist, helping her inside without asking her questions. He knew she'd speak when she was ready, it was how Eponine worked. If he asked her now she would only close herself off more but if he gave her time he'd come to him and talk to him.

When they reached the apartment Enjolras was stood at the door, his arms crossed against his chest and the apartments phone gripped tightly in his hand. "What the hell?" He demanded, taking both of them by surprise. Combeferre assumed it was him he was mad at him for leaving without an explanation but it was Eponine that he turned to. "Bahorel rang. Said he saw Grantaire taking you out of the party."

She scowled as she pulled away from Combeferre, crossing her arms against his chest as she glared at him. "Just leave it," she told him as she pushed past him. Enjolras turned and followed her, throwing the phone down angrily on the sofa. "Drugs? Really Eponine? Do you know what those things can do to you, or you set on killing yourself? You don't know what could be in them-"

"You're starting to sound an awful lot like Joly," she spat at him bitterly as she headed for the bedroom and Enjolras quickly grabbed hold of her wrist, yanking her back towards him.

"So what if I am?" He snapped at her. "Do you know how stupid that was?"

She flinched as he said it, yanking her wrist back. He was right, she was stupid. The word was like a dagger being twisted in her chest as she glared at him. "Why do you even care?"

"You know why I care!" He sighed exasperatedly as he took a step towards her. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I wanted to!" She told him as she refused to step down. Meanwhile Combeferre lingered behind them, unsure what to do. He ran his hand through his hair, deciding to see where it was going instead.

"You can't always do something because you want to! It doesn't make it any less stupid! God, Eponine!" He punched the wall frustratedly. Combeferre was the first of the two men to notice as she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself, taking a shaky breath. "You're not alone now, you have to think about other people."

Combeferre stepped forward and placed his hand on Enjolras' shoulder. "Stop," he told him sternly, trying to keep his voice low as he shot a worried look in Eponines direction.

"Why should I? She's got to learn that-" Enjolras began to rant before his voice trailed off as he saw what Combeferre saw. He quickly stepped back, staring down at his fist as Combeferre moved towards the shaking girl and pulled her into his arms.

"It's okay," he whispered, running his fingers through her hair as he watched Enjolras at the same time. "We're not angry with you, right Enj?"

He shook his head mutely as he stared down at the ground, disappointed in himself. He had always vowed never to hurt them, especially not Eponine. She had never told them everything that went on at home but they'd put enough of the pieces together. "No.." He finally voiced.

"He's right…" She whispered into Combeferres chest. "It was stupid.. I'm stupid.. I…"

"You're not stupid," Enjolras told her quietly from where he still stood frozen. "I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."

"No… he's right…" She told them, squeezing her eyes shut. "My Dad always said it… I couldn't do anything right and now… now this… it's true, and teachers said it because I was always failing school…"

Combeferre stepped back and cupped her face in her hands, forcing her to look up at him. "You're not stupid," he told her, placing a small kiss on her forehead. "You're the most intelligent, beautiful person I have ever met and no one has the right to tell you that."

She glanced down at the floor, nodding her head slightly as Enjolras hesitantly stepped forward. "He's right," he told her quietly, hesitantly taking her hand in his. "If it wasn't for you we would have got arrested during that protest last year, you showed us where to go… you know the streets here better than anyone else and you can pick locks, I mean…how many people know how to do that?"

"And there was that time the fuse blew and you had it fixed before us two even found the fuse box," Combeferre chipped in. She glanced up at them, nodding her head a bit more.

"And you basically raised Gav and Zelma when you were barely older than them," Enjolras pointed out, squeezing her hand.

"I guess…" She smiled weakly.

Combeferre smiled as he kissed her forehead. "I think maybe it's best if we all get some sleep now," he told her gently, Enjolras agreeing with him. She nodded her head, allowing her two boyfriends to guide her towards one of the bedrooms where all three of them fell into bed still fully dressed, pulling her between them protectively. After a few minutes she was fast asleep, her back pressed up against Combeferres stomach and her head resting against Enjolras' chest as he stroked her hair. "She doesn't trust us enough to let us in," Enjolras sighed after a few moments.

Combeferre shook his head. "No, she just doesn't trust the past not to come back and hurt her."

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Enjolras whispered.

Combeferre looked down at her and smiled before nodding his head. "I think so."


End file.
